AFL Preview: Richmond v. Geelong

Last week saw the further sliding of teams that were once considered two of the elite of the competition, with both Sydney and West Coast being humiliated with 40+ point losses. It’s hard to see how either are going to turn it around, with both now in real danger of missing the top 4 and Sydney potentially missing the finals completely. It is just absurd how close the competition is, and how one win or one loss can see teams drop from the elite positions to out of the finals altogether. Friday night’s blockbuster is another potential ladder-shaker.

Richmond continue to be the only team unaffected by the carnage that is the 2018 season, easily beating a surging Collingwood team and extending their lead atop the table. West Coast’s shock loss only further cements their place as the undisputed best team in the AFL. Geelong were unsurprisingly too strong for Brisbane and are now winners of three of their past four, but this week will be a true test of their stature. There’s no doubt they have the talent to match Richmond, but whether they can all get it going at the same time has really yet to be seen.

Let’s take a look at the top picks for your AFL daily fantasy games.

Gun: Too close to call

I’m really struggling to find a gun for this game. This may be the first time I’m stumped here, but we really look bereft of top options. Richmond is one of the worst fantasy teams in the game, really without an elite level scorer, and while Geelong have a few, this really isn’t the ideal game to be investing big money in a Gary Ablett. Patrick Dangerfield’s totals are not translating to PlayON, Joel Selwood has seen a role change, Tim Kelly has fallen off a touch and the Tigers aren’t offering much else. A Zach Tuohy or Tom Stewart may be the way to go here, but I didn’t feel confident enough about either to give them the tag. Tough game to call.

Dud: Joel Selwood ($16.3m)

Joel Selwood has seen a role change in recent weeks, relinquishing his role on the ball and playing a more sweeping role. This has drastically decreased his time spent with the footy and has seen his fantasy scores plummet. Selwood thrives on contested possessions and tackles, those are the backbone of his game, but the new role, while it may be helping his team, is not helping his owners. A 62 last week was evidence that the deeper role is not fantasy-friendly. Avoid.

Point of Difference: Scott Selwood ($8.7m)

The role change of his brother Joel has helped Scott significantly in recent weeks, with the younger Selwood putting up much stronger scores including last week’s 109. Likely we will see Selwood tagging Dustin Martin, which obviously is a total nightmare for 99.99% of the population but there are few better taggers than Selwood and he has proven in the past that when given these assignments he can produce big scores. He won a lot of people their fantasy leagues last year thanks to a wonderful stretch and he may do it again here.

Check back soon for picks and analysis for the rest of this weekend’s AFL action. In the meantime, be sure to get your lineups in. Good luck!